Feeding mechanism for uppercut apple-slicing machines.



F. B. FOLEY.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR UPPERCUT APPLE SLICING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED ocns. 1914.

1,161,466,, Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

wff'nesses L6 COLUMBIA PuNouRAPH CO.,WASHINOTON. D. c,

F. B. FOLEY.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR UPPERCUT APPLE sucme MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3. 1914.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

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2 SHEETSSHEET 2- N VEIV TO Fr flaw/r 5. fa/ y,

WITNESSES @eaceV/W COLUMBIA .PLANOURAPH 00.,WASH1NGTON. D. c.

e eaieeeeo ea r INGERSOLL. ate ee iene- ,flriein appl ca ion ma ana v4ee r e .1 19 eaeewhen l e tale sei eeee e IM wh m i m y c ce n Be itknown that I, FRANK Bennett!) Fewe 9 e t wn f lese ll i t c un .e LQX QTd, in the li evi ee 9 Q's: taxi-Q, aea a ha i v ete eer ie een'anduseful Imp emen s in ,Feetl e lllee ar nis fo Upp r en leS i ie Ma hiefi, a wh ehth i llon neiis the sneeifie t ee- My n ent n re es t -iimn ttem nt in feeding mec anism fo .UPPQ si t aPihle slicing ma hine es ib di m iieetldin anplieatien, .NQ-.:$ 2 1126, fi ed April 3nd 1 916 the .pesent app eatiq fe mi lg xdi sio i he z o and th .obi t i t e ip le iellinv ntionisto devise a simple mean io el r creasing t c pa i y of thefee ife rear yr ring the app es .en a a tim from the 529 taining ihcpperinto th pockets teemin hart .of the slicing mechani m, which be run at anormal rate ofspeedan a hich wi h'th ze e in reithat n0 missingc theapples takes place .in theihQPP r 421 10111 5954? th ewingef thapplesoecn at a pain .01 discharge, in vwhich means are .provided f orinsuring that the time of discharge .ofeach apple .froni the feeding.mechanismjis, coincident wit h r a o the poc .opp site the receivingpoint and in which a fiimple and .easymeans for taking up the S ack .ofthe elevator Joelt is provided and it ,cQnsists essentially of arectangular openetram .an adjustable upper driving shaft .andastationary lower idler shattfljcunnaled ;.in bearings carnie'd by theframe, pulleys :mcunted upon the Lupper driving shaftand dowel" idlershaft, a conveyer belt' mounted aipon the pulleys, peculiarlyconstructed buckets carried hytheibelt and extending alternately itromeach edge thereof, a drive connection between the upper conveyershattand (main shaft ofthe apple slicing machine, :an iglclined, chutedesigned to Zreceivethe apples atrqm rthe buckets and convey themltogjthe slicing mechanism and a trip device ;.de- -signed to time the.dischargelofsthe apples from the bucket into the inclined chute .ashereinafter more. particularly explained by the following specification.E

lfigure 1, is a general perspective .v-iew 0t my apple slicing machineshowing the feeding mechanism connected thereto. Fsig. 2,eis a verticalen l-arged cross sectionithrough the .feeding mechanism and adjacentportion .of the apple slicing mechanism. Fig. .3, .a perspective :detailof a portion .of theeleizat specification "Letters Patent.

Patented hlov. as, was. thi appl a ie fil o -me: a

ng peevete be t bucket an ia i Darts. Fig. 4, is a se ctional detailshowiiig th sta seas nin the dju t eeize liet pini n t tale-ins up heslack of th en eqke dtitiaeuqh n- Fieis trea elevat ei .of t e fe di ebel a bucket conveyers attached thereto showing the elr anseia n e thbuek .con y r Jet. tl ai iie i e let r of r eren tei qt e aaelin t -ineach fi ure- $1 1 to melee athe tep a i n o y feeding device clear Iwill first describe in eeeeite teemst eoastre ti nand Qp ra oftheslicing machine. This machine co np e laimaini rem senpertine a table 2tl zett het e s nt-er :Q which x e ds -v ticalrotatably mounted shaft 3on the upper end a a e-tel as mounted th r ta y m m Qi the eate y m mbeA ar suitab y neua ede ate ti a series e iquterand inner as .lllenlbers5.211191 ieonnecte together ante -qqn ee ineisne p anm i Tl1e-..ai s 7are semi-circular. in fc1m and Bare arranged one beneath the other in areanwardly in- .9 d Ll 1$ll l0l .one to $13118 ether and ;-f01:m an evenng ilQQQ et loc ted be ween th hate an inne tiniest and 16 an e h s ofsweep arms 7. The apples are designed tebe .fe into these packets and.to .be carried atneteiil able sl ei gzkniyeslsueheseshow My :feedneelevice .is adapted to teed staple illiteztheseinoqkets .i-so hatyonapp e only is ted into each pocket and at the ire hqinredit m willnewideseribe my feeding mechanismecmpcsedef the tour JIGDfilQfllS 1 0,511, Q12 and ilfim l verticals i0 and 11 being connected :teeetherbyicrosszbars 14 and il5kd=lfldrilhe aer- (meals {1 and 1113113 similarcrosshars 1'6 and 17. The end portions of the frame formed iby the yejrtica s .1 and :11 and conn cti g zh rj l-and 1-5 and verticals 12 and1:13 and .25 and 2.6iare supplemental erossxbars, the

cross bar'25 extending between the verticals been loosened.

10 and 11 at the inside thereof and the cross bar 26 extending betweenthe verticals 12 and 13 at the inside thereof. V

27 are vertical slots formed in each vertical member 10, 11, 12 and 13in proximity to the upper end'thereof.

28 are bolts extending through the slots 27 and through the 'cross'barsand 26. The bolts 28 are provided with suitable-nutsand washers so as toallow of the cross bars 25 and 26 being clamped in position by thebolts'28 when adjusted vertically.

29'are vertical bolts extending through the cross bars'14 and 16 andinto the cross bars 25 and 26. The cross bars 25 and 26 are hung bybolts 29 when the bolts 28 have 30 are nuts threaded on to the upper endof the bolts .29 and by which the bolts are hung from the cross bars 14and 16.

' 31* are bearing brackets carried by the 7 cross bars 25 and 26.;

32 is a shaft journaled in bearing br'ackets 31. r u

33 is a pulley seeured'to'the shaft 32. 34 is a belt mounted upon thepulleys 24 and33.

35 is the=driving shaft of the apple slicing machine connected to theapple slicing machine by the gear pinion 36, and the annular gear 37formed on the rotary member 4.

'38 is'a bevel pinion secured to the inner end'of the driving shaft 35.

'39 is a counter shaft secured in suitable bearings carried by the table2 and provided at one end with a bevel gear 40 meshing with the bevel.gear 38 and at the opposite end to. the sprocket wheel 41.

42 is a sprocket gear mounted on the corresponding end of the conveyershaft 32. 43 'is a sprocket chain connecting the sprocket gear 43 andsprocket pinion 41 together.

44 is an idler sprocket pinion mounted upon a slide 45 slidably held ina groove 46 formed in the inner face of the cross bar 26.

opposite or lower end of the chute extending over the pockets formedbetween the sweep rings 5 and 6 hereinbefore described.

52- and 53 are two series of buckets extending alternately from theedges of the conveyer belt 84 to; which. they are attached by lugs 54(see Fig. 3) rivetedto the belt.

The body of the bucket is also provided 1 with a depending arm 55 whichbears against the vertical board 49 during the vmajor portion of itsupward travel in order to hold the bucket in a rigid and steady positionas ittravels upward. Each bucket is also provided with a. slot 56extending inwardlyfrom the outer edge thereof. It will be understood byreferring to Fig. 2

- that as the buckets pass downwardly in the direction of arrow andaround the pulley 24 that they engage with the apples and convey themupward as indicated in this figure.

In order to insure that the time of discharge of each apple from eachbucket is coincident with the arrival of each pocket opposite to thelower end of the chute 51 I haveprovided the following tripping device:57 is an inclined arm secured to the inner side of the bar 19 having acurved lower end 58 on to which is pivoted an arm 59,'the upper end ofwhich lies in the path of travel of the bucket slots 56 as indicatedparticularly in Fig. 3. 60 is a pin extending from the arm 57 inproximity to the lower end of the arm 59. 61 is a tension springconnecting the lower end of the arm 59 to a suitable portion of the arm57. As the apple is carried upwardly by the buckets it strikes theinwardly projecting end of'the arm 59 which forces the apple inwardlyout of the bucket so as to be delivered into the chute 51. If the appleis small it is only struck by the extreme end of the arm 57 whichdischarges it. If the apple is a. large apple the arm 59 is swungupwardly until the tension of the spring serves to discharge the apple.The apple after being discharged into the tube 51 falls into one of thepockets of theapple slicing mechanism and is sliced as described in mypreviously filed application hereinbefore referred to.

Should the belt 34 of the conveyer become slack all that it is necessaryto do is to loosen the bolts 28 and 48. The nuts 30 may then betightened on the bolts 29 drawing the cross bars 25 and 26 upwardly, thesprocket wheel 44 adjusting itself to a new position ofthe drivingchain. After this adjustment has'been made the bolts 28 and 48 may beagain tightened. It will also be seen that by securing the buckets 52and 53 to the belt 34 so as to extend alternately from each edge thereofan increased feeding capacity is attained.

The great difficulty has been with a single feeding device, that is tosay, a device in which the buckets are attached to the face of the boltin a single series, is that such a device cannot be operated fast enoughto give much capacity for the reason that when the buckets pass toorapidly through the apples in the hopper they do not have time to engagean apple every time. Running at a high rate of speed will also cause theapples to be tossed in the air instead of delivering them into the chute51. My feeding device can run at a normal rate of speed and yet havedouble capacity to the ordinary device. The buckets are also placedalternately on each side of the belt so that suiiicient space is leftbetween the buckets to receive the apple while passing through thebottom of the hopper.

What I claim as my invention is.

1. In a feeding device for upper cut apple slicing machines, thecombination with the main hopper, of a bucket conveyer comprising upperand lower rollers, of an endless belt carried by the rollers, bucketssecured at the edges of the belt having open inner sides, a dischargechute extending from the outer surface of the belt to deliver the appleinto the sweep arm mechanism, and a vertical board extending downwardlyflush with the sides of the inclined chute and against which the opensides of the buckets bear during their upward travel, as and for thepurpose specified.

2. In a feeding device for upper cut apple slicing machines, thecombination with the main hopper, of prising upper and lower rollers, ofan endless belt carried by the rollers, buckets secured at the edges ofthe belt having open inner sides, a discharge chute extending from theouter surface of the belt to deliver the apple into the sweep armmechanism, and a vertical board extending downwardly flush with thesides of the inclined chute and against hi h the open sides of thebucket bears during its upward travel, and yieldable means for insuringof the discharge of the apple from the buckets at regular intervals intothe chute when it arrives at the V slicing machines,

a bucket conveyer com-V discharge position, as and for the purposespecified.

3. In a feeding device for upper cut apple the combination with the mainhopper, of a bucket conveyer comprising upper and lower rollers, of anendless belt carried by the rollers, buckets secured at the edges of thebelt having open inner sides, and having a slot extending inwardly fromthe outer side, a discharge chute extending from the outer surface ofthe belt to deliver the apple into the sweep arm mechanism, and avertical board extending downwardly flush with the sides of the inclinedchute and against which the open sides of the bucket bears during itsupward travel, and a spring held pivoted arm designed to bear againstthe apple contained in the bucket as it passes upwardly and to enter theopen slot as the apple is discharged over the upper edge of theinpilined chute, as and for the purpose speci- 4:. In a feeding devicefor upper cut apple slicing machines, the combination with a dischargechute, of a bucket conveyer comprising upper and lower rollers, anendless belt supported thereby so that the face of the belt bearsagainst the upper end of the discharge chute, buckets secured to eachedge of the belt alternately one with the other, and yieldable means forinsuring of the discharge of the apples at regular intervals, as and forthe purpose specified.

JOHN L. PATERsoN, MARY Hown.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

